Young Writers Society

“Sometimes Malvis doesn’t control it too.” Estella Fay’s voice was starting to sound a little less ragged now. “In fact, a lot of the time she doesn’t control it.”

Heliodor Everett blinked. “That sounds incredibly unhelpful.”

“Well, everything isn’t about being helpful.” Estella Fay smiled. “Sometimes things just are.”

"Malvis is an Illusionist, right?" Jo asked. She had been paying attention earlier when Estella Fay had first brought Malvis up. They tried to imagine what exactly an Illusionist could do, but came up short. "What kind of illusions can she do?"

“Well, she’s a shapeshifter! Kind of like you, but a bit more limited.” Estella Fay cleared her throat, wincing in pain. “She can’t change species, but she can change any part of her appearance to be what she wants.”

Heliodor Everett sighed. “It’s not wise to give a laundry list of your comrade’s crimes to a government official.”

“It’s not wise for a government official to say that after just committing a crime.” Estella Fay patted Heliodor Everett on the shoulder. “Several, actually.”

Jo smiled at Heliodor Everett and Estella Fay's banter. Before, the banter might have been malicious, but now it was just too sort-of-friends talking with each other. Jo hoped they would be best friends by the end of it. She knew better than most how spontaneous some friendships could be. It wasn't like she had ever planned on becoming best friends with Kyle.

"So illusionists don't really make illusions?" Jo asked. "Because that sounds more like a physical thing and less like an illusion thing. I've met a few mutants with illusion powers before, and they couldn't really make anything real. It just seemed like it was."

“Oh, everything Malvis makes is real.” Estella Fay shrugged. “It was just named by people who don’t know anything about it.”

Heliodor Everett looked away at that, like he was the one who named it and now felt immense shame. Well, as much immense shame as you could feel if your only reaction is a slight head turn.

Estella Fay hummed, though it sounded more like strangled gargling through her throat. “I find that people tend to do that a lot. Especially, no offense, humans.”

Jo smiled at that.

"You're not offending anyone here," they said. She gestured over at Kyle, whose gaze had returned to the spot on Estella Fay's neck where she had been strangled. "We don't count as human anymore. At least, I don't think so? I haven't checked up on American law in a second, but I know some countries count mutants as another species now."

Kyle nodded.

"...It depends on the state," Kyle said. "Some made it a law, others didn't. When it was brought up to the Supreme Court, they said it was something the federal government had no jurisdiction of because it wasn't in the Constitution. Mutant protections are just as scattered across the states."

Estella Fay nodded. "In England, non-humans... don't have it easy. Some are better off than others, like the alis, but it's not pretty."

Heliodor Everett shook his head. "It only gets worse."

"It won't for long. We're seeing to that." Estella Fay fixed her gloves, trying to smile reassuringly.

"You put a lot of faith in criminals."

Estella Fay shrugged. "When you've been breaking the law since birth, there's no one else to trust."

Jo nodded in agreement.

"Mutants and mutant law are recent changes for us," Jo said, "but I agree. There's always hope. Even now, people are starting to become more accepting of mutants."

Jo fell back into silence.

"...Alis aren't the only nonhumans?" Kyle asked.

Heliodor Everett nodded. “Earth, our Earth, has four dominant species. Humans, alis, subterras, and ignis. Approximately two decades back, an astronomical vessel crashed in Wales, giving us Ukayans. But, no one’s seen one since their initial crash.”

Estella Fay frowned. “Well, it’s quite hard to meet new people when your very existence is illegal.” She turned to Jo and Kyle. “I’ve met several Ukayans, and they’re not anymore fascinating than alis.”

Heliodor Everett paused. “You’ve met… several?”

Estella Fay grinned and nodded. “It just started as two. Their parents managed to avoid that first rapture of Ukayans they survived in secret for almost thirty years.”

"You have aliens?" Jo asked, eyes wide.

"We have aliens," Kyle reminded her.

"You mean we have one," Jo said, turning back to her best friend. "And it's not like either one of us know Tentacle Princess personally-"

They stared at Kyle.

"You know xem?" Jo asked, incredulous.

"Xe come to the garden sometimes," Kyle said, nonchalant. Jo just kept staring. They kept forgetting how many important people Kyle knew just from working in Mutopia's gardens.

"We're talking more about this later," Jo promised. She spun back to Hester Everett and Estella Fay. "But back to the Ukayans being aliens? Do they like...look like humans? The one I know of kind of does, but I think xe intentionally decided to look that way."

Heliodor Everett shrugged while Estella Fay waved her hand. “They have all of the right parts. Two arms, two legs, two eyes as the norm. But they tend to come in vibrant shades of blue, green, and teal.”

Heliodor Everett frowned. “They can be… blue?”

Estella Fay nodded. “The first two I met are this beautiful shade of navy. They’re all shorter than alis. I think the tallest I met was around five and a half feet tall? So, on par with humans.”

Jo hung onto Estella Fay's every word, eyes alight with interest and excitement. Kyle knew that they had seen mutants with different skin colors before during their time on Mutopia, but Kyle understood Jo's fascination. Jo thought those mutants were interesting, too.

"That's so cool!" Jo said.

Estella Fay frowned. “Cool? Well, yes, blue is a cool color. Though, green is a mix between warm and cool, so would that make teal cooler?” She furrowed her eyebrows, now quietly muttering to herself.

Heliodor Everett looked at the floor. “I… I didn’t realize that there were still Ukayans in England. I’ll be honest, I assumed they were…” He shrugged.

Jo and Kyle fell silent when Heliodor Everett implied that the Ukayans had been wiped out. They looked at each other, thinking about how Michael and the constructs had tried wiping mutants, too, and how some humans were all too supportive of the extinction of an entire species of people.

"People always find a way to survive," Kyle said, softly.

Estella Fay blinked at that, slowly easing back into processing reality. “It’s all we can do. Survive.”

She scanned the forest. Artemis, her best friend, her first friend, would know what to do. She’d be able to tell where people were based on the birds or the trees or just the feeling of the air. She’d make Estella Fay’s heart stopping racing.

But Artemis wasn’t here. She was safe back at home. Everything Estella Fay had done in the past few days was to keep Artemis safe, even though she missed her and everyone else dearly.

She glanced back at Heliodor Everett. He looked completely neutral still, just like he had since the day she met him. But he just looked out of place. He didn’t belong here.

“Maybe we should keep going.” Estella Fay swallowed. “There might be a town nearby.”